I watched M*A*S*H as a little kid in England, in the 70's - and when Henry Blake got killed, I was inconsolable.

"Abyssinia, Henry". Quite the episode when it came out. The cast didn't know Henry was going to die until they filmed it. A completely different ending was written. Standing on the chopper pad, as Henry gets ready to leave, the script is written as such:

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Ambulances start down the hill. The chopper pad is vacated of patients, etc., in a matter of seconds. The engine on the chopper is running. Trapper and Hawkeye give Henry last minute pats on the back then run down the hill after the ambulances. Radar and Henry are the last two on the pad. Radar hands Henry his bag, then comes to attention, saluting. Henry looks at him for a minute, then hugs Radar.

HENRYYou behave yourself or I'll come back and kick your butt.

RADARYes, sir.

Henry starts for the chopper.

RADAR (up)Say hello to Mrs. Blake!

Henry's aboard. The chopper takes off. CAMERA STAYS on it as it flies off into the distance, and the gang watches it go.

FADE OUTEND OF ACT TWO

TAGVARIOUS SHOTS OF HENRY BLAKE FROM PREVIOUS SHOWS THROUGHOUT THE SERIES.

THE END

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Now that's how the scripts were handed out. But they told the cast there was an additional scene written at the end of act two. Wayne Rogers and Alan Alda were given their lines and Burghoff was given his line just before filming started. Here's the additional page:

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Henry starts for the chopper.

RADAR (up)Say hello to Mrs. Blake!

Henry's aboard. The chopper takes off. CAMERA STAYS on it as it flies off into the distance, and the gang watches it go.

CUT TO:

INT. O.R. - NIGHTHawkeye and Trapper at one table, Hot Lips and Frank at another. Klinger is working, Mulcahy helps. After a beat Radar ENTERS, looking stunned, holding a slip of paper.

TRAPPERPut a mask on, Radar.

HAWKEYEIf that's my discharge, give it to me straight, I can take it.

RADARI just got a message.(beat)The Colonel's plane was shot down over the Sea of Japan. Spun in. No survivors.

The transitional episodes (Henry leaving, Trapper leaving, BJ coming on board, Colonel Potter's arrival, Frank leaving, Winchester coming on board) were written by Jim Fritzell & Everett Greenbaum. These guys wrote a lot of Andy Griffith show episodes and wrote most of the Don Knotts films: "The Ghost and Mr. Chicken", "The Reluctant Astronaut", "The Shakiest Gun In The West."

Interesting thing: they always worked in some kind of "poop" joke into their MASH scripts. Always. Example: when Radar gives Potter the horse, and Potter slips in the manure ("Son, to me that's a tip-toe through the tulips"), that's a Fritzell & Greenbaum script.

I always liked M*A*S*H and still watch it on a regular basis, but sometimes I forget there were other just as good war type adventures like Hogans Heros, or Baa Baa Black Sheep later called Black Sheep Squadron..MacHales Navy or Sargent Bilko

Perhaps you've noticed (...perhaps not...)but a phrase I often use "Finest Kind" is actually from the Book "M*A*S*H"

Quote:

Trapper receives orders to rush to Kokura, Japan for a medical emergency. Trapper and Hawkeye depart immediately with their golf clubs. The "emergency" turns out to be a routine operation; the anesthesiologist turns out to be "Me Lay" Marston, an old friend of Hawkeye's who works at Dr. Yamamoto's Finest Kind Pediatric Hospital & Whorehouse ("Finest kind" becomes one of Hawkeye's catchphrases).

ok, so I'm still a bit of a Tom-BoyI grew up watching "World At War" and "Victory At Sea"with my older brother, and "Catch 22" is STILL my Favorite Book.

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